Breastfeeding: easier second time round

I am breastfeeding the Second Boy, and this time round, it feels much easier than when the First Boy and I started our nursing journey. I have fourteen months of breastfeeding experience to refer to this time, which has helped me to relax about the whole thing.

 

Back then, I really struggled for the first six weeks with a severely cracked and painful nipple caused by a whole first night of feeding in the hospital with a bad latch. Every feed was excruciating and I think that, because I tensed up, my let-down reflex was affected and, subsequently, my milk supply.  For the first six weeks I felt like I was failing at breastfeeding, and became quite anxious and downhearted.  So this time round I was quite nervous that the same thing would happen.

With the Second Boy, I have been very careful from the start that our latch is right. We are not getting it right every feed; sometimes we go through a couple of days of soreness.  Sometimes I feel like the relentlessness of it is all too much for me to cope with, especially when the Second Boy is cluster feeding for the third consecutive hour in the night.  But generally it's a hundred times better than with the First Boy.  The Second Boy's weight gain has been fantastic (he is averaging at a 2 oz gain every day at the moment!) and I really feel like I have a great supply of milk.  My confidence is generally pretty high, and I am feeling proud of how we're doing.

Here is my list of the things that are helping us succeed this time:

1. Bedside cot.

We have a cot that attaches to our bed so that I have been able to feed both boys quickly and efficiently during the night without having to get out of bed.  It means that I sleep within an arm's reach of my baby and can sense the first stirrings when he is ready for a feed.  It's especially welcome right now in the late Autumn when the nights are colder and getting out of bed not an enticing prospect.  However, there are a couple of downsides of our cot: the mattress is a little hard, which we've remedied by putting the Moses Basket (which the Second Boy loves sleeping in) inside it; I've also found that I am sleeping so close to my baby that I am disturbed by every tiny sound, and can sometimes misinterpret that as him needing to feed.

 

2.  Spare bed

For the past few nights I have  been sleeping in the nursery, which has a single bed in it.  G has been bringing the Second Boy into me during the night when he needs a feed. This has been so helpful in helping me to get a bit more sleep in between feeds, as he is less disturbed by all the little snuffling noises that babies make.  Making a point of having a spare bed was something that we learnt was a priority for us after our experiences of the First Boy's early months. I'm so glad we found the room for one.

 

3. Nursing armchair

With the First Boy we bought one of those proper nursing glider chairs.  But I didn't actually use it very much as it was not that comfortable, so we ended up selling it. This time, we bought the Jennylund armchair from Ikea, which is really comfortable and also compact enough to fit into the nursery.  When I'm sleeping in the nursery, I will feed in this chair at night as it helps me with posture and prevents my back from aching, which it can sometimes do when I'm feeding sitting up in bed.

 

4. Nightlight

We have a lovely little nightlight from Mothercare which I switch on to do the night feeds. It's just enough light to get the latch right without waking anyone up too much!

 

5. The right nursing clothes

It really helps me to feel more confident about breastfeeding if I know I have comfortable nursing bras and clothes that allow me to feed discreetly and efficiently, both at home and in public, without me feeling too frumpy.  I have spent more money this time round on a few key nursing outfits, and I've also made use of non-nursing clothes such as button down shirts and cowl neck tops, rather than be limited to what I can source in the few high street shops that sell a range of nursing clothes.  A good tip is to wear a nursing vests with clips underneath a regular top, then it's possible to simply lift up the top to access the vest without revealing your tummy.  I think sleep bras are a must too, to give you some support at night without feeling like you're still strapped up!

 

6. Lansinoh cream

This cream is a godsend. It really helps sore nipples to heal quickly. Expensive but worth it.

 

7. Breast pump.

I'm just at the point when I'm starting to express and introduce the Second Boy to a bottle of expressed milk occasionally. The first time round, I had a hand-pump, which was absolutely useless.  Then I borrowed an Ameda Lactaline double electric breast pump from a friend and it was fantastic.  I have invested in one of my own this time.  Again, it's expensive, but really worth the extra money for its efficiency and ease of use.

 

8. Supportive husband

I can't stress enough how my husband's support is crucial to whether I am able to make breastfeeding work for us.  My hubby makes sure I'm fed and watered, entertains and distracts the First Boy when his mummy is occupied in nursing, takes on most of the nappy and winding duties, sends me into the spare room when he can see me flagging due to lack of sleep, and tells me how well he thinks I'm doing.  He supports my breastfeeding completely but I know he'd like to be able to give our little one his milk (who doesn't savour gazing down at that lovely milk drunk face?) so I'm looking forward to him being able to give the Second Boy my expressed milk from a bottle a bit more frequently soon.

 

What have been the key factors for getting breastfeeding off to a good start for you?